jueves, 6 de mayo de 2010

Pävana-Sarovara

Fotos de Deena Bandhu Das del álbum Chandan Yatra 2010

Just near Chattikara where the Bhaktivedanta Swami Marg reaches Chattikara there is the place called Garuda Govinda. Just past the petrol pump there is a road and 100 meters down in the temple. On Aksaya Tritiaya day at Garuda Govinda you can get darshan of his full swarupa without any cloth. We went there in the morning. If you look closely where the flute ends you can see Garuda's face and Govinda has assumed a 12 arm Vishnu Form riding him. On the right side is Laxmi Devi. Today there were too many garlands to really see his full form.

One time the cowherd boys were playing. Now just as Radharani's expansion in Vaikuntha is Laxmi, so Sridama's expansion is Garuda. They wanted to see this so Sridama manifested his Garuda form and Govinda mounted him and took on a 12 arm Vishnu form. If you look closely where on the right and left sides you can barely make out the wings. There's some horizontal lines representing the feathers. This is just below the last of the 6 arms on each side.

This Sarovara, or lake, lies north of Nandagaon when coming down from Nandésvara Hill, and is situated on the side of the highway that leads towards Kämyavana. The custom is to bathe in this lake before taking darsana of Nanda, Yasodä and the others on the crest of the hill. It is said that Pävana Gopa, the father of Visäkhä Sakhi, constructed this sarovara, thereby giving it its name. When Krishna and His friends would return from cow grazing, they would bring the cows here to drink. At that time, Krishna would call out “Niri-niri” and signal to the cows to enter the sarovara. He would then call out “Cün-cün” to induce the cows to drink water, and “Tiri-tiri” to call them back to the bank. The boys would satisfy the cows by having them drink water in this way before returning them to their resting place in the cowshed. The boys would then go back to their respective homes.

The Vrajaväsis would also bathe in the fragrant and pure water of Pävana-sarovara. Krishna used to bathe here and frolic in the water with His friends. On the far bank, Shri Rädhikä used to bathe and play in the water with Her sakhis. Sometimes Krishna would dive in from his bank like a crocodile, make His way unseen to the bank of the sakhis, and catch their feet. In this way, He played with them.

Mahäräja Vrishbhänu had a beautiful palace built for his daughter Shri Rädhikä on the northern bank of Pävana-sarovara. She played many games with Her sakhis in this palace, from which She could very easily have darsana of her beloved Shri Krishna.